Obi-Wan Kenobi wrote:
I don't have my copy of Nichols with me, nor do I remember the name of the gentleman who wrote on the sources of revelation, but in general, the source data of theology is revelation.
right.
Theology is the study of God and things as they are in relation to God. There is a "natural theology", but that really is the culmination of metaphysics. This is knowing God as Prime Mover, the First Good, etc... those things we can naturally discover about Him
Theology deals with God as He is, as He has revealed Himself...and things in relation to that
I like Lagrange's break down of theology
1. Positive theology- the study of the depositum fidei. This includes Biblical studies, Patristics, magisterial documents. All of these sources are studied under the guidance of the Church
2. Analytical theology- Analysis of revealed truths, especially the more fundamental. Lagrange's example: "The Word was made flesh. Theological analysis shows that the sentence means: The Word, who is God, became man." He says it may be grammatical, but is usually conceptual. This is basically pinning down what exactly the fundamental truths mean
3. Apologetic theology- This step of theology works to show that this or that truth really is in the deposit of faith and also to show that it isn't impossible, i.e absurd or contradictory. This study does not seek to demonstrate positively this or that mystery. As Lagrange says "The only thing attempted in this apologetic procedure is to show that there is no evident contradiction in the proposition which enunciates the dogma."
4. Manifestive theology- Lagrange writes: On the fourth level theology uses arguments of appropriateness, to illumine, not to demonstrate, revealed truth. Thus, to clarify the dogma, say, of the Word's eternal generation or that of the redemptive Incarnation, theology appeals to the following principle: God is by nature self-diffusive; and the more elevated good is, the more intimately and abundantly does it communicate itself. Hence it is appropriate that God, the supreme Good, communicate His entire nature in the eternal generation of the Word, and that the Word be incarnate for our salvation. These mysteries, so runs the common theological doctrine, cannot be proved, and cannot be disproved, and although they do have a persuasive probability, they are held with certitude by faith alone.
5. Explicative theology- Demonstrates, in strict form, a truth implicit in a revealed truth. Not a truth deduced from two revealed truths, but implcit in one. Lagrange writes: To illustrate: take the sentence, The Word, which was God, was made flesh. Against the Arians, that sentence was thus expressed: The Word, consubstantial with the Father, was made man. This consubstantiality with the Father, whatever some writers say, is much more than a theological conclusion, deduced illatively from a revealed
truth. It is a truth identical, only more explicitly stated, with that found in the Prologue of St. John's Gospel.
6. Illative theology- He subdivides this
a. A conclusion, found in revelation implicitly or explicitly, that can be deduced from two revealed truths. This serves to unite the teachings in theology into a coherent whole. "To illustrate, let us take these two statements: first, "Jesus is truly God," second, "Jesus is truly man." From these two statements there follows, by a strictly illative process, this third statement: Jesus has two minds and two wills. And this third truth is elsewhere explicitly revealed, in the words of Jesus Himself: "Not as I will, but as Thou wilt."
b. A conclusion necessarily following from two revealed truths, not revealed elsewhere. Most think that such a truth is proper matter for a dogma, since it is manifested from two revealed truths.
c. A conclusion derived from a revealed truth and a natural truth. This truth lies not in the domain of dogma, but theological science. It might be infallibly defined, but it isn't a dogma, since it rests on a natural truth, not a revealed one. It is closer to faith if the revealed truth is the major premise, closer to natural reason if the natural truth is
This might help illustrate the subject matter of theology (at least in the manner it handles theology). Of course, the material sources are the bible, the organ of tradition, etc.